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catigula 4 hours ago

Expert economists working in both the Biden and Trump administration support tariffs.

The difference is the dumb way Trump is doing them and a smarter way of doing them.

Obviously, this comic completely misses that nuance and promotes a pseudoscientific idea that tariffs are somehow bad.

drop_star 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think the 'tariffs' in this comic are related to the current regimes application of them. Not representative of tariffs as a whole.

Hammershaft 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Economists universally think tariffs are dumb policy.

https://kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/steel-and-aluminum-tarif...

Literally 100% of the 50 expert economists polled by the Kent Clark Center think tariffs overall make Americans worse off.

Nobody in politics can say this simple truth because the rust belt states are critical swing states.

tim333 37 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

It depends on the details though. That survey was just on a one sentence "new US tariffs on steel and aluminum will improve Americans’ welfare" question. They can have a place if say you want to maintain manufacturing for military strategic reasons.

catigula 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The Biden administration kept the Trump tariffs. His own policy-makers, technocrats, said that they were a necessary geopolitical tool, cited China's extensive use of tariffs (amongst other states), and noted that they must be used to protect manufacturing and in tandem with allied states.

https://www.commerce.gov/news/fact-sheets/2024/05/fact-sheet...

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1251096758/biden-china-tariff...

https://www.internationaltradeinsights.com/2024/07/biden-adm...

slg 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The doctor hits my leg with a hammer to test my reflexes. The comic isn't saying hitting legs with hammers is always bad.

HDThoreaun 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I think the comic captures that nuance by exaggerating the stupidity of the trump tariffs. If your trade strategy is "we must eliminate all trade deficits" youre gonna have a bad time